Rob Andrew to lose elite rugby director post in John Steele's overhaul of the RFU

The low profile maintained by Rugby Football Union chief executive John Steele
will end today in Birmingham when he presents wide-ranging recommendations
on how to deliver a World Cup triumph on home soil in 2015.

Out of the shadows: John Steele is expected to make big changes in his long-awaited review of the RFUPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

As part of a radical overhaul, elite rugby director Rob Andrew will be removed from sharp-end duties with the England team although there is still a desire to offer him some sort of reduced role.

A new post will be created to oversee the production line of English talent from junior level through to the national team. There has long been a view that such a position would be a perfect fit for the 2003 World Cup-winning coach, Sir Clive Woodward. And so it would.

Woodward, though, is heavily engaged in his work at the British Olympic Association with a focus on the 2012 Olympics. He also has good cause to be circumspect about RFU processes in that he was publicly rejected for the job taken on by Andrew in 2006.

The Woodward hat will be wary of flying into any RFU ring, which is a shame as he would be just the man to galvanise the organisation. All that may yet to come to pass as he has strong backers within the union, but any appointment would be some time down the line.

The expectation is that the search for suitable candidates will take several months stretching through to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September.

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Last night South Africa’s 2007 World Cup-winning coach, Jake White, followed his assistant in that tournament, Australian Eddie Jones, in expressing an interest.

“There is no doubt Jake would be interested in a performance director job with the RFU if it became available,” White’s agent, Craig Livingstone, told The Daily Telegraph.

Steele’s vision extends way beyond this year’s tournament. His presentation to the union’s nine-man board of non-executive directors will take several hours as he goes through the workings of each and every department at the union.

With the RFU mindful of sensibilities concerning jobs back in London, the meeting is being held away from Twickenham, at the offices of board member Ian Metcalfe, managing partner at law firm Wragge and Co. Staff will be briefed on developments tomorrow morning.

Steele, who came into office last September following the retirement of Francis Baron, has painstakingly reviewed every aspect of the business. This is his moment.

With confidentiality a priority, there have been no detailed or written pre-meeting briefing notes distributed to the board. Most board members are unaware of the detail. Steele will deliver his blueprint through the course of the day and ask the board to back his recommendations en bloc. There is room for debate but there is a real sense that this is the occasion for Steele’s imprimatur to be put on the union.

The former Northampton and England A fly-half was attracted into office from his chief executive role at UK Sport to restore rugby to the centre of the union’s business.

Many felt that Twickenham’s bottom line had become the core focus. With revenues last year of £112 million, yielding a net profit of £25.8 million, the union is functioning well in the market place.

The same is not true of performance in the arena that matters most to followers of English rugby.

England have achieved little of note since the World Cup triumph of 2003, an appearance in the final four years later notwithstanding. Seven Six Nations championships have passed by without England troubling the engravers.

At one point England slumped to eighth in the world rankings, recovering recently to fourth. The RFU believes that it needs a fresher, more vibrant and coordinated approach.

Steele has set his sights on ensuring that the union’s infrastructure is overhauled to help England arrive at the 2015 World Cup as one of the top-ranked sides.

The impact of the Andrew situation apart, the real shake-up will come in the departments underpinning the elite level of the game. Steele’s expertise will be brought to bear on streamlining that set-up. Some departments will merge, others disappear. New personnel will eventually be appointed.

There will be redundancies only at a later stage as the new department heads are given their targets.

Woodward once asked to be judged on the World Cup, finally delivering in 2003. Steele may well have cause to repeat that refrain.